Tour Exclusives
1. 501 Terrace Avenue
A contemporary build with an AMAZING roof deck
Candler Park has several contemporary homes, but none more striking than this one! The owners bought the house in 2022 when it was about 90% complete, a custom build for someone else who dropped out due to pandemic delays. They had been looking for a modern home and were thrilled to stumble upon this one. They fell in love with both the abundance of natural light throughout the house and especially the roof deck, which makes them feel like they are living in the middle of a forest.
The house met the requirement of double home offices and has the advantage of facing the park. The exterior is clad in a combination of painted shiplap siding and stained cedar. Its street facing garage doubles as a painting studio, and many of the artist/owner’s paintings can be seen throughout the house. Walking inside, notice how the large windows and doors on the main level shower the main living space in natural light. The kitchen showcases custom cabinetry and built-ins following the modern aesthetic of the exterior.
The stairs to the fourth floor are worth the trek. There you will enter the “woman cave,” which opens onto the expansive roof deck with views out to the park! Make sure to descend to the lowest floor to see the teenage son’s “man cave” too!
2. 417 Callan Circle
Looked just like its neighbor at 213 until they “popped the top”!
This house and its next-door neighbor at 413 Callan Circle were both built by J.W.R. Spain, a builder and developer, in 1926. They were both slated to be one-story brick dwellings with 7 rooms and a bathroom, and they shared almost identical floor plans. The owners renovated 417, adding modern function initially and “popping the top” in 2004 after their second child was born. The house’s beautifully integrated second story addition maintained many architectural features of the original one-story bungalow and incorporated materials consistent with bungalows of the era, such as the cedar shakes. The vaulted second story porch off the master bedroom offers views across the street to Candler Park. This arch motif recurs in both upstairs bathrooms. An open stair landing on the main level leads to French doors and the deck and garden beyond. The owners’ love of art can be seen throughout the house, including many paintings done by their artist daughter, as well as several original Ansel Adams photographs bought by family in the early 1930s. The owners are in the midst of replanting their gardens with native plants, the early phases of which can be seen in the back garden.
3. 413 Callan Circle – Garden Only
Ever-evolving “jewel box” of a garden
Built in 1926, along with its neighbor at 417 Calallen Circle, the exterior of this home remains largely unaltered. What is more intriguing is the property’s garden history! It is well documented back to the late 1950s and early 1960s that Mrs. James A. Lott hosted the Hawthorne Garden Club for talks and meetings at her house. The current owners’ tenure in the garden began with weeds, a chain-link fence, and a basketball court, that is until the middle child went off to college.
For many years the periphery of the garden featured borders of annuals and perennials, but 20 years ago the now large structural boxwoods and hollies were added, followed by the hemlocks five years later. The rear entrance was moved to its current location and a deck added in 2005. Over the years the owners have favored a more manicured look, with rocks, sculptural evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs, and “well-behaved” perennial and annual plants. This ever-evolving garden is a true jewel box and a magical sanctuary. Make sure to see the front garden too and walk on the delicious gravel path that goes between this house and 417 Callan Circle.
4. 321 Oakdale Road
Step back in time through this charming gate
One of the earliest homes on tour this year, this home was constructed in 1911. At that time the address was 35 Whiteford Avenue, a street that spanned the entirety of Edgewood and Candler Park. As this area became increasingly white, and Edgewood to the south became increasingly African American, residents north of the train tracks requested a name change in 1960 to Oakdale Road, to align with the primarily white neighborhood of Druid Hills.
In 1931, resident Kate Robbins O’Neal submitted her poem, “Ballad of a Crumbler” for the Atlanta Constitution during a “Potlikker discussion which rocked the world” – seriously! This craftsman style home has many original and unique features, including the original wood lap siding, a unique porch balustrade design, beautifully detailed exposed rafters, and a stained-glass clerestory above the entry. Inside, note the large picture window allowing views through the porch out to Oakdale, the glass fronted built-in with a window behind to allow light into the dining room, and the window and door casings featuring distinctive profiles.
5. 357 Candler Street
A craftsman bungalow bursting with DIY creativity
Built in 1915, this lovely craftsman style home retains much of its original footprint. This was the home of the Phillips family through the 1930s and 40s. The family consisted of grandmother Elizabeth Phillips, her daughter Mildred along with Mildred’s husband and their children. Be sure to check out the old photos of the Phillips family at the house in the 1930s! At this time, rooms were also rented out for additional income, typical of many families in the area. This home boasts original flooring in the dining room that includes exposed nails and detailed inlays, as well as interior window, trim, and door casing with extremely unique detailing that are likely original to the home. A cozy screened porch off the rear of the home has an exposed metal roof that provides the owners with a symphony of rain drops during a summer storm. One of the owners works in interior design and has completed much of the décor updates herself, including tiling! If you are a DIYer, make sure you talk to her!
6. 1321 Iverson St.
Make the climb to see a truly exceptional interior
Don’t let the long flight of steps and hidden exterior discourage you from visiting this home! What awaits you at the top is a thoroughly renovated, sophisticated and stylish interior inspired by recent New York brownstone renovations. Built in 1909, this home witnessed the June wedding in 1932 of Winnie Lee Hynson to Georgia B. Manthos. Winnie was one of 11 children that lived in the home, no wonder it already had an “attic buildout” by the time of the wedding! In 1938 the home was advertised to rent for $32/month. And by 1960, this home was a duplex, like many of its neighbors.
Today the exterior of the home leans into its Victorian style with high pitched roofs and vertically oriented windows. One enters through large, French doors onto the enclosed porch, and then through the original doorway. In contrast with the Victorian exterior, the interior is clean and simple with modern finishes, including striking black trim and brass hardware. The owners worked with an architect friend to design the open lower floor plan, a large, open central stairway connecting all three floors, and the small addition to the 3rd floor with a deck that looks out over Mulberry Fields.
A deep roof overhang on the rear allows for an abundance of outdoor living space. Don’t miss the elegant drinks bar incorporated into the kitchen cabinetry, the cozy powder room with Candler Park’s tiniest functioning sink, and the creative arrangement of art throughout the house!
7. 1311 Iverson Street
Lovely craftsman bungalow with elegant landscaping
Built as 25 Iverson Street, this home is one of the 4 houses that were built simultaneously in 1917-18 by developer brothers J.S. and C.R. Collins. These 6-room frame dwelling homes cost $3,000 each which was relatively high for the time, indicating that these were likely well-appointed, stylish, middle-class dwellings. It appears from maps that there were two floorplans used, one plan for 1303 and 1307 and another plan for 1311 and 1315 (1315 is not on the tour this year). By 1932, this house was a duplex, evidence of which still exists today.
Take your time on the stairs but be sure not to miss this beautiful craftsman style home. As you approach, note its unique front porch column detailing and cornice trim on the gable windows. Inside, the light-filled front entry and dining room feature the original casement and double-hung windows with a built-in storage bench. The back of the house was expanded to include the kitchen and a large family room that opens out onto a lovely screened-in porch. Not visible from the street, a 2nd level includes bonus space for the family. The owners worked with a favored landscape designer to create an elegant landscape in both the front and rear of the house, so spend some additional time looking around outside as well!
8. 1307 Iverson Street
Founders of Mulberry Fields and a classic Candler Park home
Built as 21 Iverson Street in 1917-18, this house has seen its share of residents. In the 1920s, it was the home of Dr. W.A. Arnold, the official physician of the Atlanta boxing commission. By the late 1930s, the owners rented the front bedroom which had the benefit of an adjacent (shared) bath, and in 1962, resident Wendell Townsend attended a roofing convention and came back with an antique car that had once belonged to a Jekyll Island millionaire. The current owners have lived here for over 40 years and have been gardening in Mulberry Fields before it even existed!
While approaching the quintessential craftsman style home, notice the original bracket and column details on the welcoming front porch. The original interior trim and casing surrounds extremely large double hung windows in the front room letting in natural light. A rear and 2nd story addition, positioned not to be visible from the street, was completed in the 1980s and includes a sunken lower area and a vaulted owners suite above, both with windows looking out to Mulberry Fields.
9. 1303 Iverson Street
Traditional exterior with a French-inspired, modern update inside
Built as 17 Iverson Street in 1917-18, this charming craftsman style home is perched high atop the street and boasts staggered cedar shingles cladding the front and rear porches. The interior of the home, while thoroughly renovated, maintains many original details while also introducing contemporary touches. The lower open floor plan, including the custom steel and white oak staircase that ascend in front of a large picture window, were largely the design work of one of the owners and his father, who has extensive renovation experience.
The clever use of space by the same duo upstairs, which houses the owner’s suite, laundry, and family bedrooms, required only a small dormer off the back to accommodate their needs. This they accomplished in opposition to their architect’s recommendations in favor of a much-increased space! If you have had the pleasure of visiting private homes in France, which are generally smaller than those in the U.S. and are often modern in décor, it will not surprise you to discover that the design duo here are French!
10. Mulberry Fields
A unique, garden oasis located in an in-town neighborhood
A Wylde Center garden, Mulberry Fields is an open meadow of mulberry groves, gardens, towering pecan trees, and art. It offers an accessible green space for recreation, environmental education, community building, and organic growing and is a haven for urban wildlife, sheltering hawks, owls, bluebirds, and a variety of woodpecker species, as well as goats and chickens! Walk out the back of any of the Iverson St. houses or take the alley next to 1303 Iverson St. Wylde Center staff await you there!
The acre of land currently known as Mulberry Fields was used for agricultural purposes as far back as the late 1800s and as recently as the 1970s. William Howard Talbot Sr., the previous owner of the property was born in the early 1900s in the family homestead still located at 289 Candler St., from which his family ran a small dairy farm. In 1992 three neighboring households purchased the property to stop a plan to rezone it and build condominiums. In 2007 the land was placed in a conservation easement securing its continuity as a green space and protecting it from development, and in 2016 the Wylde Center assumed management.
Note the hobbit houses, magnets for imaginative play, the Chicabilly, a 10-foot sculpture constructed by artisans under the direction of renowned, local artist Charlie Smith, and the old-fashioned rope swing which hangs from a Civil War era pecan tree. Mulberry Fields welcomes volunteers and private event rentals and offers garden plots for rent. It is accessed down the alley next to 1303 Iverson St. and is open dawn to dusk for all.
